Two new hop processing operations—one in Washington’s Yakima Valley and another facility-in-planning in Virginia—seek to provide brewers with a quality product and a shorter turnaround time.
In a nation that is known for, and takes great pride in, its tradition and terroir, a new wave of brewers is creating a culture of “bieroir” that embraces locally sourced ingredients.
As with beer, craft cider is aiming for people with more sophisticated palates. And one of the first things modern cider makers have done is dry the palate out. To lure beer drinkers, cider makers in the Pacific Northwest started adding hops.
Every hue of IPA and dozens of Stout sub-types are recognized in style guidelines, but Czech beer is reduced to “Bohemian Pilsner,” a name that would leave a Czech drinker scratching his head. Meanwhile, the country is awash with an array of lager styles, more than anywhere else in the world.
If craft production is going to double in the next few years—per the Brewers Association’s goal of a 20 percent sales share by 2020—farmers will need to plant and harvest about another 18,000 acres of hops just to meet demand from craft brewers.
A decade ago, typecasting IPAs was easy. And as of 2014, the mild-mannered East Coast IPA was old news, a relic of an earlier era of craft brewing. But a funny thing happened on the style’s trip to the graveyard.
Drying hops is like curing a fine cut of meat. The softer you kiln, at lower temperatures for longer times, the more flavorful and aromatic the final batch will be.
Not long ago, a Pale Ale brewed with Colorado-grown Centennial hops would have raised eyebrows. But that’s exactly what the state’s brewers guild made for the 2014 Craft Brewer’s Conference in Denver.
Once seen as the ultimate expression of beer geekery, India Pale Ales have been at the vanguard of a communal palate shift, resulting in the wholesale embrace of all things hop.
To run a brewery of any size it takes a wide range of tools, equipment, ingredients and paraphernalia. Sometimes having a furry companion around can help, too. Here are the five things that Crider and Brown can’t live without.
Shortages of aromatic hops forecast for 2014; HopCat to open Michigan’s largest beer bar in midtown Detroit; San Diego leads industry in job growth and wages; and Lakemaid’s beer-delivery drone program grounded by FAA.
Jeremy Warren was pretty sure he’d be studying active ingredients for a living—he just didn’t think lupulin would be one of them. Brewing replaced his idea of becoming a pharmaceutical salesman, much to the joy of hopheads everywhere.
For the first time, the US hop industry has grown more hops for aroma than for the commoditized bittering acid. The biggest driver of this change has been a 40-percent increase in Cascade acreage from 2012 to 2013; over 2,000 acres in the Pacific Northwest have been converted to Cascade.
Even though small-batch beer holds only about 1 percent by volume of today’s German beer market, the legacy of handmade beer has endured years of macrobrewery consolidation and is finally coming out on the other side.
Brian Trout’s homebrewed DIPA is rich, and coats the tongue with hop flavors; playful, with the mango-pineapple of Citra, and bitter enough to remind you that it means business without being obnoxiously teeth rattling. He calls it a “San Diego Sunset Golden.”
Goose Island brewpub in danger of closing; B-Side “brewing label” seeks to put fresh spin on contract brewing; hailstorm damage could have destroyed hops from Hallertau; oil cleanup plan concerns Bell’s Brewery; and MillerCoors achieves landfill-free status at flagship brewery.
News of a fast and cheap way to explore the nuances of dry-hop character—pop open a Bud Light, drop some hops and re-cap it—has spread like wildfire. The great thing about this technique is the endless variety.
New French beer tax elicits outcry from EU brewers; Oskar Blues partners with community college for hands-on brew course; German courts rule to allow two different Duff beers; study claims hop compound may help fight common cold; and Westvleteren XII finally released to much fanfare, some controversy.
The Matthew Vassar who brewed Vassar Ale later founded the college in Poughkeepsie that bears his name. That connection is almost certainly why Vassar’s papers have been preserved.
